Uzumaki Naruto and the 3rd Great Shinobi War
by Admiral Saris
Summary: Not a Time Travel Fic. There is no Uzumaki Kushina. Uzumaki Naruto is born the night of October 10th, at the very end of the 2nd Great Shinobi War. This is his story, and the story of the Ninja who fight in the 3rd Great Shinobi War.
1. Chapter 1

October 10th, 26th year of the Age of Hidden Villages

The Elemental Nations have an honor roll of legendary heroes and villains, some living, some fallen. Who were the heroes and who were the villains tend to change a bit based on who you talked to but not always. Some were so utterly heinous that they were universally regarded as villains. But the truly sad, bitter, ugly truth is that for every ninja who was famous, who was remembered and written about, there was a whole litany worth who should have been. Who knows how many B, A, and even S rank ninja have been footnoted or overlooked from history.

Truthfully this problem got worse after the founding of the villages, not better. Before, a young shinobi merely had to remember a few family members and clan heroes. But now? Now they were lectured on hundreds of shinobi, famous village ninja, kage from every village, famous missions, common and uncommon techniques, dangerous enemy ninja, hundreds of famous clans… it was simply too much for a seven year academic program that was designed for children between the ages of five and twelve. Some ninja had to be…politely omitted from the standard courses and reduced to topics of interest for ninja history nerds.

Uzumaki Mito was one such ninja. If her name appeared on any academy exam (even now a mere 26 years after the village was founded) most students would be baffled. Even the handful of ninja who did recognize the name would most likely only be able to put down that she was the 1st Hokage's wife. They'd always say _was_, simply assuming she was dead. (She isn't, or at least isn't yet. The way this intro's going it may take a few thousand more words for me to get a chance to kill her off.)

If you asked her family about her they'd say remarkably little. Perhaps they would mutter she'd aged remarkably well and then quickly change the topic. However if you got one of them really drunk they would probably begin telling horror stories of her shrewish ways. A half sane harridan who'd run roughshod over the 1st Hokage and after he'd died (to get away from the witch, most likely) she'd sunk her claws into his brother Tobirama (an action which surely factored into his decision to stay behind and die against Kumo's elite years later. He did it just to get out of her vile clutches, they'd claim. Then they'd whisper that he'd appointed Hiruzen over Danzo just to spite the woman). The family lived in… not fear exactly… perhaps dreadful resignation of the woman who showed up at family gatherings (or sometimes randomly just to make them suffer) and constantly lectured her children and grandchildren about her expectations for them, and how they were all dismally failing her standards. Why just the other day (this mysterious relative would continue) she sent poor Tsunade crying through the street with a mortified Dan (her boyfriend, they'd say if you asked) chasing after her. At his introduction to the family…well they couldn't bring out the specifics but suffice to say dreams were crushed, ambitions laughed at, relationship approval was firmly denied, lineages were frowned upon (and by 'frowned' they mean mocked, belittled, and outright besmirched) and the wicked old harpy even took the time to painfully point out each of Tsunade's numerous flaws at length, especially her poor taste in men. Poor Dan was so devastated by the wretched woman that he died on his next mission. Didn't even try to dodge the attack that killed him his teammates swore up and down.

There were two things you would never find out no matter how much they talked. First how utterly important she was in the founding of the village. Years ago, before the village was founded, Uzumaki Mito was the most beautiful woman Senju Hashirama ever encountered. Her hair the color of pure midnight, so black it seemed to devour the light. Her eyes endless voids that one found impossible to escape. Her bosom was so full that only her granddaughter Tsunade would eventually match it, and to Tsunade's shame Uzumaki longevity also meant Uzumaki immunity to sag. Anyhow, Hashirama was smitten on first sight. Now she'd ignored him completely in their first meeting (meeting is too strong a word, she pretty much just waked past him) but he had a plan. Unlike today where men are required to woo women with charm, time, gifts, and listening while they talk, in his time there existed a convenient shortcut. He petitioned her father for the girl's hand and to his surprise he received a truly mind boggling dowry (for the curious a dowry is basically payment from the girls family to help deal with the costs of having a new wife. The size of a dowry was determined by two things, first how much money the family had, and how badly they wanted you to take the girl off their hands. That's right not only did the guy get a wife, he got paid for his trouble.) At first Hashirama was staggered by the amount. Then after the wedding (her father insisted the two meet only after) when he actually met the bit… his wife he realized the old man was really that desperate to get rid of her. The dowry was so large that not only did it fund most of the initial construction of Konoha, it provided ample financial incentive to several clans who were hesitant to join the fledgling village, and there was still plenty left over to carve his face on the mountain at the heart of the new village.

The second fact that they would never tell you, is that Uzumaki Mito was (still _is_ actually) the deadliest ninja ever to walk the earth. Not deadliest kunoichi, deadliest ninja. Hashirama, the so called god of all ninja, learned this to his embarrassment when she beat his ass like a drum every time they ever sparred. Uchiha Madara was horrified to discover this after he went rogue and returned with the Kyuubi in tow to challenge Hashirama. The legendary Uchiha roared with laughter when the 1st Hokage arrived on the field with only his wife as support. Madara had dominated the most powerful beast in all creation and the only support the Senju could muster was his wife? It stopped being funny when she sealed the nearly omnipotent beast into herself and then she and her husband proceeded to beat him like a piñata. (Truly he only survived because his old friend was trying to redeem him and the woman stopped the fight to lecture the man on his pointless tree humping morality, giving Madara plenty of time to escape.)

Uzumaki Mito missed most of the 1st Great Shinobi War (Sometimes called the One Year War) because she was busy having kids. Her only notable encounter was with an assassin named Kakuzu. He'd come to try and kill the Shodaime but never got the chance when he accidently stumbled on Uzumaki Mito. She killed him 4 times and dumped his body in a ditch by her garden. He laid there for three days to be absolutely sure she wasn't looking before he disappeared to be a missing-nin (there are rumors that he didn't have the Jiongu until after he failed his assassination mission, rumors he started, but he actually received it for the mission.)

After the first Hokage died ("useless tree hugging hippie" his wife said, thankfully she didn't bother going to the public funeral) she shacked up with his brother and had a few more kids. I'll briefly mention her children now because she found all of them terrible disappointments. Over the course of her life Uzumaki Mito bore twelve (about to be thirteen) children.

Senju Hashirama sired eight children. After each was born Uzumaki Mito considered them carefully and gave them an appropriate name.

Her first born, a son, was named Useless. (Father of Tsunade and Nawaki.)

Her second born, a girl, was named Epic Fail.

Her third born, a girl, was named Worthless As Her Father.

Her fourth born, a girl, was named Flat as a Board (she never broke the A-cup barrier in a family where C cups were on the small side)

Her fifth born, a girl, was named Critical Fail.

Her sixth, a girl, was named Big Disappointment.

Her seventh, a girl was named Really Stupid. (And she was)

Her eighth, another girl, was named Wide Load.

Senju Tobirama sired four (maybe five) children.

Her ninth, a girl named Little Bitch. (You may recognize her nickname- Tsume)

Her tenth, a girl named Completely Irrelevant. (Nickname- Mebuki)

Her eleventh, a girl named Fucking Worthless. (Nickname- Yoshino)

Her twelfth, a girl named Wasted Space.

Their fathers, thankfully, gave their children far more normal nicknames that were quasi-adopted as their official names. But these are the names Uzumaki Mito called her children and the ones on all their official documents. I mention her twelve children because today, the 10th of October, is a day that would go down as one of the most important days in Konoha's history. It was the day of the Battle of 4 Shadows, which occurred practically on the village's doorstep. It was the day the 2nd Great Shinobi War unofficially ended (some treaties just needed ink once it was over, a process that would drag out another month and a half). It was the day the Kyuubi attacked the village. It was the day Uzumaki Mito would give birth to her thirteenth child and final child.

The child would be born in an empty field over a dozen miles from Konoha. She had no midwives and no helpers; no one even knew she was pregnant. Her bump had been nearly invisible and when Uzumaki Mito disappears for two months her family didn't worry, they celebrated. Besides who really expects a fifty some odd year old woman to get knocked up? Even if she still looks younger than thirty.

Her choice of birthplaces was based entirely on practicality. Ever since she sealed the Kyuubi in herself it had tried to escape every time she had a child. So she needed plenty of space to reseal it when it got out. That's right, Uzumaki Mito is so insanely powerful that she regards the Kyuubi ripping itself out of her chakra system during childbirth as just another annoying part of the having children process. Perhaps it would have been that simple if Uchiha Madara didn't intend to make an appearance.

After his last defeat the legendary Uchiha had spent nearly two decades plotting to destroy Konoha, destroy all the hidden villages, and enact his ultimate peace initiative (an extremely early draft of what would become his Eye of the Moon Plan). He had, very carefully begun to gather suitable allies. Some agreed with his plans, others he tricked.

Today that witch Uzumaki Mito would be at her weakest (how he discovered this remains a mystery), the Kyuubi would be his weapon once more, and the armies of Konoha, Iwa, Kiri, and Kumo were locked in a four way death match mere miles away. In a single stroke Madara was poised to clear the entire board and leave himself entirely unopposed.

The birth of her 13th child, her second son, took several hours. The Kyuubi waited until the perfect moment just seconds after the babe was born. It ripped through the weakened seals. Its roar shook the forest, the earth quaked and splintered, the air turned dry as a desert, and killer intent that could freeze even elite ninja in their tracks surged forth. The colossal biju glared down at its container and prepared to fight for its freedom. She stood, baby cradled in one arm, and prepared to seal the biju once more.

It was at this moment that Madara arrived with his eight allies. A group composed of some of the most powerful beings in the world; all ready to defeat the woman and claim their nine tailed prize. They showed no fear. Why should they? Each was powerful on their own, all nine at once was a nearly unbeatable force. The woman was almost an after thought. According to Madara she had some skill, but neglible compared to themselves or their target. The biju was a truly formidable creature but even it would fall before this, the first Akatsuki.

Gol D Roger, a man who laughed at the world order and chose to live his life according to his own dreams and rules.

Ifurita, a being from an age far in the past, called a Demon God by some. A part woman part machine being that had devastated entire cities.

Cell, an organic android and all that remained of the once world spanning Red Ribbon army.

Aizen, a criminal from the land of Iron who dreamed of becoming a god.

Herb, a warrior prince from an island of beastmen bloodlines who claimed to have the powers of the ancient dragon race.

Tetsuo, a mad criminal with vast mental powers.

Bison, a would be conqueror who had mastered the strange chakra he called psycho power.

Celestine, whose powers can barely be described and who's history is shrouded in secrecy.

Vash the Stampede, the Humanoid Typhoon, the man who had the largest bounty in the elemental nations. A being part man and part plant, he agreed to join Madara hoping the Uchiha's plan would bring lasting peace to the world.

Madara began, as he began most things, with a long speech. Or at least he started one. The Kyuubi hoping its former container was distracted began the fight in the most surprising way possible. It turned tail and ran. It shut its eyes, picked a random direction, and hauled its chakra laden ass as fast as it could go. Not from Akatsuki. It hated Madara more than life itself but Kyuubi wasn't afraid of him, merely wary. It also had no idea who any of the others were. It ran because it had a chance to escape Mito. After being re-captured in its last ten escape attempts it didn't see the point of fighting when escape was a reasonable plan.

There are no surviving accounts in the shinobi records of the fight that happened in the clearing; the only mention of the area in any Konoha files is that Kyuubi began its rampage there. The records have no idea how it got there or why it tore the area apart before rampaging through Konoha and joining the battle of 4 shadows.

Even off the record only five beings survived the fight in the clearing to give any kind of account. Uchiha Madara (if he ever described this fight to anyone; which he never did) could only describe the first minute of combat. He had to use Izanagi to save himself from Mito's opening attack and then again when he realized the attack was part of a combo. He isn't even sure how he managed to get his blind ass out of the field to scheme for another day. (He also didn't realize all the effects the last attack had on him until he got away, and once he found out… well… it didn't end well for the person who told him.)

Ifurita technically survived, but her broken body was blasted so deep into the earth that the shinobi who found the hole thought it was bottomless. It would take 15,000 years for someone to find the body and reactivate her.

Celestine could have given one of the most complete accounts. He was the second to last member of Akatsuki in the fight after all. But he got sealed into the moon. Oddly enough it would take him 15,005 years to be released.

Uzumaki Mito left the clearing with the full account but wouldn't have a chance to brief anyone about anything. She also left bereft an eye, sporting organ damage, dozens of minor wounds, a considerable chunk of chakra spent, and missing her favorite hair ornament. Her unnamed child had not a scratch but would never provide an account of the fight either.

It's officially recorded that the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. That's incorrect. It really just ran through it. Then ran through the currently raging battle of 4 shadows, got turned around a bit, ran back through the battle, and generally made everyone's life miserable. Or over. It killed plenty of ninja and soldiers as it stomped around the battlefield.

If anyone was particularly observant they may have spied Uzumaki Mito arrive back in Konoha almost ten minutes after the Kyuubi barreled through it. Now most women (or rational human beings) would have immediately found anyone to hand their infant off to before chasing after the enraged 9 Tailed Fox through the largest, messiest, battle of the 2nd Great Shinobi War. Uzumaki Mito barely paused before resuming the chase.

Now we (finally) come to what the history books do record, in numerous exhausting and contradictory accounts. The Battle of 4 Shadows or as it's called in Suna the Battle of 5 Shadows. Almost twenty thousand ninja would be on the field, supported by nearly a hundred thousand non-shinobi soldiers (read cannon fodder... or maybe kunai fodder. Or perhaps just fodder?), almost every country in the elemental nations had something on the field. Of course trying to put any kind of full account to the battle would probably be a book in itself. Instead we shall briefly cover the three sides on the field, their goals, and take a quick glance at the battlefield.

The largest force on the field was commanded by Hiruzen Sarutobi the new Hokage. He had supporting Grass, River, even Rain-Nin, and almost sixty thousand Fire Country soldiers. But his real strength was his own Leaf-Nin; virtually Konoha's entire shinobi population was on the field today. All three Sanin, Danzo, Koharu, Hmura, even the White Fang. Their goal was the simplest of everyone; they wanted to save their village from annihilation there would be no retreat or surrender.

The second force was lead by Mu, the second Tsuchikage. He'd brought the full might of his village, his heir designate Onoki, even his villages surviving jinchuriki (one of the five on the field today) Roshi. A dozen allied minor villages supplemented his forces and better than forty thousand Earth Country soldiers. His goal was to wipe Konoha off the map.

The smallest group was lead by the 2nd Mizukage and 3rd Raikage. It contained no supporting forces, only Anbu and elite shinobi. The two planned to catch Iwa and Konoha after the battle and kill off their enemies in one stroke. They brought three jinchuriki, 7 year old Yagura, teenage Utakata, and the nibi container.

Suna ninja were present, but not in any kind of order, nor were they united in any fashion. The 2nd Kazekage died almost three years ago, and Suna still hadn't gotten its act together. Sasori of the Red Sands (though he didn't have that nickname yet) and his grandmother were fighting for Kiri. The man who would become the 3rd Kazekage was fighting for Iwa. Nobody is sure who the Ichibi container was fighting for, the container gave in to a full possession early in the battle and then it didn't really matter. (Years later Suna historians would often claim devious plans, or classified conspiracies as the reason Suna-Nin were fighting for every side. In reality it's because Suna is a shithole that's government makes the United States Senate look like an organization of educated, efficient, and competent individuals. Remember when civilization falls apart- Suna was there first.)

The battlefield itself was the heavy forest that surrounds Konoha, broken occasionally by small clearings, gentle streams, and in the southwest the Village of Konoha. The Fire Country forces began the battle in the southwest. The Iwa forces to the north. Kiri and Kumo were somewhere eastward.

When we think of battles, we like to think of lines of battle, of forces being 'here' and the enemy 'there'. Shinobi rarely fight such clean battles. Still majority of historians widely agree that those were the starting positions for the bulk of each side's forces. They also, nearly unanimously, agree on the opening moves.

Kiri and Kumo scouts, somehow, came to believe the battle was starting. Never willing to waste an opportunity the Raikage and Mizukage attacked immediately… and found their very, very, elite and very, very small army directly between the two armies just before the battle started.

By the third hour of fighting- there were no more lines. Twelve giant summons, five raging jinchuriki, seventeen S-Rank Ninja's and eventually a wild Kyuubi made sure that any large group was more a suicide plan than a practical fighting force. The terrain didn't help, the forest was so thick that keeping track of anything outside twenty or thirty feet was almost impossible. The 'lines' were so intermingled that even twenty years later scholars were still pitching fits trying to bring order to the madness.

The Kyuubi for instance. Most accounts state that it arrived at about the 7th hour of fighting, however there are plenty of texts that place it arriving as early as three and a half hours and a handful that have it arriving in the last half hour.

Whenever the Kyuubi arrived, we know that Uzumaki Mito was about 10 minutes behind it. She followed its trail right through the front gates of Konoha into what had been one of the Leaf-nin staging points earlier in the day. She was met by Mu and twenty or so of his honor guard who in one of those freakish coincidences of war, had passed largely untouched through Kiri's, Kumo's, and Konoha's forces without encountering anyone important and were largely unscathed. Mere moments after Mito and Mu arrived they were joined by the Mizukage and his groupies, who were actually looking for the Hokage.

Historians would unanimously record that the Mizukage, Tsuchikage, and all their guards massacred each other to a man. It was particularly famous event, movies, books, history teachers, even fanfiction all dramatically retold the event. Every recreation of the battle had to depict it. Uzumaki Mito appears in none of those accounts. They don't even have a character that looks like her. But what ever happened, Uzumaki Mito was one of two survivors. It cost her one of her arms, far too much blood, and injured one of her legs so badly that she'd spend the rest of the battle trying to catch the Kyuubi. (How long that took largely depends on which version of the battle is your favorite or which historian you believe. But according to most accounts the battle lasted 9 hours and ended it when the kyuubi died. So call it an hour and forty five minutes.) Her babe had nary a scratch.

In that time (again however long you think it took) the Kyuubi would chase the third Raikage off the field, ending his 10,000 kill streak, kill the rampaging Shukaku, interrupt the duel between Hiruzen and Onoki allowing both ninja to retreat, nearly kill Orochimaru, and sent Manda, Gamabunta, and Katsuyu back to their realms, kill both of Iruka's parents, and cartloads of other ninja and soldiers, unintentionally save a crippled Danzo by stepping on the Kiri-Nin about to kill him, and slay three of the 7 swordsmen of the mist.

Uzumaki Mito was little better than a corpse when she finally caught up to the beast, she'd also added another 70 or so ninja to her kill count. She then exploited the fact the Kyuubi was as big as a small village to sneak up on it. Realizing she was pretty much done for, the woman scarcely thought about it before sealing the beast into her (still unnamed babe). There were no witnesses. Records simply state that the beast died, marking the end of the battle as survivors began to drag themselves off the field. (Sometimes historians cry a little if you press them for details of why or how it died)

* * *

(Now for the first and only actual scene of the prologue!)

The Sandaime had set up a temporary headquarters in a small clearing where he was desperately trying to organize what was left of his forces.

"What do we have left?" He asked his current aide. He didn't know her given name but recognized a Nara when he saw one, the girl was his 4th aide of the battle.

"What do we have left? Or what are we actually able to confirm?" She asked.

"Both." His aide, slowly, turned to look across the clearing at the assembled shinobi and regular soldiers and made a show of counting.

"Over all no idea" Nara Four said. "I can confirm you, Tsunade, Bull, Chicken, Dog-2, Squid, that Grass-Nin, a blonde academy student, twenty fod…twenty regular soldiers, and about 40 ninja who need to get to the hospital A.S.A.P. I really think Squid's going to die even though he's standing and moving around. Danzo, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Whitefang, and the rest of the army are MIA."

"And the enemy?" Sarutobi asked.

"I haven't seen anything big since the kyuubi disappeared five minutes ago. We all watched Shukaku die, all the big summons have left or been killed. As for actual enemy forces they're so entangled with ours I don't know what's left. We can assume Onoki is still alive." The Hokage grunted.

"I think our best option is to order a regroup."

"That could be dangerous." Sarutobi glanced over at Tsunade and his aide practically jumped. The girl had crossed the clearing and gotten right next to him without him, or his aide, noticing. If that wasn't a sign of fatigue he didn't now what was.

"Moving in this deathtrap could get a lot of shinobi killed. Much less the soldiers. We'll also give our position away." The blonde continued.

"To be blunt," Nara Four said, "our intelligence extends exactly as far as our eyes can see. We don't know what we have left. We don't know what the enemy has left. The only feasible way to find anything out is to gather at least some of our own allies."

"Do it." Sarutobi said cutting his student off. The blonde scowled at being interrupted. Nara four nodded, pulled out a special crimson flare, and launched it. Konoha had hundreds of signals, hand signs, codes, and messages but crimson flares were special. Only Hokage aides could carry them (this particular flare had just today passed through the hands of all three of his previous aides). Crimson meant Hokage, and a crimson flare had only two meanings. The most common meant, "Hokage advancing all forces attack", the second meant "Hokage Location all ninja rally to defense". Or really they meant the same thing, "Go to crimson flare."

"Now what?" Tsunade asked.

"We wait." Nara Four said.

It was a tense few minutes waiting and the shinobi were expecting anything. The Kyuubi to re-appear, Mu and his entire bodyguard, or perhaps even friendlies to show up. Jiraiya with a big grin, the enigmatic Anbu Commander, everyone in the clearing had friends, clan mates, family, teammates, acquaintances they hoped were all right and would show up.

No one was expecting who did arrive.

"You!" Tsunade shouted her eyes locked on something behind Hiruzen. Even as he turned around, the Kage's brain, perhaps the finest in the elemental nations, was firing into overdrive at Tsunade's odd yell. He knew his old student. Arguably he knew her better than anyone. Her yell and expression were…odd. It was a strange mix of surprise, rage, concern, and perhaps even a little horrified. In reality Tsunade was a simple woman. If an enemy arrived, she'd have been enraged. If an ally she'd have been relieved. If she wasn't sure, suspicious. If Jiraiya had shown up she'd have acted surprised and annoyed but been relieved. Sarutobi had no idea… 'oh' he thought as his body finally turned the distance and he recognized the woman standing there.

Every family had its own quirks. The Senju were no exception. Hiruzen had practically been adopted by the 1st and 2nd Hokages; he was as much a part of that family as you could get without actually being in it. No one in the family called Uzumaki Mito (always Uzumaki never Senju) 'mother', 'mom', 'granny' or anything affectionate. She was 'the old lady', 'that woman', and a host of less flattering names. Even to her face it was always 'ma'am' or 'Lady Uzumaki'.

He was also one of the few people in the world who knew just how ungodly powerful she was. And even if they never admitted it, the woman's unrivaled might was one of the bedrocks upon which her family was built. Even he was horrified to see the woman in such a state and he'd only sparred with her a handful of times. But to Tsunade? Uzumaki Mito was a force of nature. Was _the_ force of nature. Even the previous to Hokage's had scarcely dared cross the woman and the few times they had they'd gotten manhandled for their efforts. For Tsunade seeing the woman in such a state must be like discovering the sun wasn't planning to rise tomorrow.

And what a state the woman was in. Her left arm was missing entirely. Her clothes reduced to bloody rags. Her right eye was covered in a bandage. An arrow protruded from her chest. Even her moon pale skin had taken a coppery color. And… there was a baby in her arm.

"Boy." She said blood flowing from her mouth. Hiruzen honestly didn't know if she knew his actual name. Tsunade seemed to snap out of her shock and leapt forward. Mito frowned as the medic began a probing technique. "Not much use at this point." The woman said pushing the babe into her granddaughter's arms. It was Sarutobi who asked the question that burned in both his and Tsunade's minds.

"Lady Mito, who is the baby?" With anyone else he would have assumed they'd found it on the battlefield and didn't have the heart to leave it. If Mito found an infant on the battlefield she'd have crushed it under her heeled boots to put it out of its misery.

"Mine. I'll need you to see after it Boy." Tsunade immediately started…sucking air? Her eyes were wide, her mouth was moving, but no words came out. Sarutobi imagined he looked just as bad.

"I see," he finally said "and the baby's name?" He asked.

Mito looked confused for a moment, then for the first time that night, she really looked at her child, her thirteenth born, her second son. Tsunade flinched, she knew what was coming.

"Well now…" Mito said, "I think you may have been worth the wait….Uzumaki Naruto." Very slowly, very carefully, she traced a seal over little Naruto's forehead. Tsunade nearly dropped the babe in shock and went back to her gaping mouth routine.

"Not a Senju?" Sarutobi tentatively asked.

"He needs those deadbeats like he needs an anchor around his neck. No, he's an Uzumaki. Make sure he gets my things." Her seal finished, Mito straightened and gave a small sigh feeling death, finally, begin to set in. As she prepared to, finally, succumb to her wounds, she realized there was one more thing left to do. One more thing she had to say.

"Boy. You. Need to know." She said. Perhaps she tried to hard, or subconsciously used some of her remaining chakra, for her voice boomed across the clearing, her words carried to every ninja and halted every other sound in the clearing. "The 9 Tailed Fox is sealed in him." And then her task complete Uzumaki Mito, finally, died. Her remaining eye shut, her head lowered, and life left her. She did not fall. Even in death, even _after_ death, Uzumaki Mito was too badass to fall to the ground. She died on her feet, and there her corpse remained.

"Wait! Damnit Mito what did you do!" the Sandaime yelled.

Now none of the Ninja in the clearing knew who the woman talking to the Hokage was. Even Nara Four had no idea. But they all heard her final words and as Sarutobi turned around he realized exactly how many Leaf-Nin had responded to his flare while he was distracted. There were over a hundred in the clearing, not counting the seriously wounded, and each of them looked…nervous.

"All of you! That information is classified! I better not hear anything about a Demon Fox!" He yelled.

And that's how Uzumaki Mito, the most powerful ninja of the age, possibly ever, who would scarcely be remembered by history, died.

But more importantly, that's how Uzumaki Naruto was born.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

One of the great challenges of any Naruto fic that takes place outside the standard timeline is what I call the "when the hell am I" situation. The problem is we only really have 3 solid dates in the Naruto universe to work with. The Kyuubi attack, the start of the series 12 years later, and Naruto's training trip which took 3 years. We don't know exactly when the 3 shinobi wars happened. We aren't even sure on the 4th. We don't know how long ago the villages were founded. So when we go anywhere, it gets really confusing really quick (or at least it does for me), how old is this person? How can that person be here, etc. So when I started this story, I built a timeline. It isn't perfect, but I plan to try and follow it.

Year -25: Senju Hashirama Born  
Year -22: Senju Tobirama Born  
Year -10: Hiruzen Sarutobi Born  
Year -6: Senju Hashirama Marries Uzumaki Mito  
Year -5: Construction of Konoha Begins  
Year 0: Konoha "Officially" Founded, Senju Hashirama becomes 1st Hokage  
Year 6: Uchiha Madara Defects  
Year 8: 1st Great Shinobi War "The One Year War Begins"  
Year 9: 1st Great Shinobi War Ends  
Year 10: 1st Hokage Dies; Senju Tobirama becomes 2nd Hokage, Senju Tsunade Born; Orochimaru Born; Jiraiya Born  
Year 22: 2nd Great Shinobi War Begins; Sarutobi Hiruzen Marries Sarutobi Biwako  
Year 26: 2nd Great Shinobi War Ends, 2nd Hokage Dies; Sarutobi Hiruzen becomes 3rd Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto Born  
Year 38: Naruto becomes a Genin

So in _Year 26  
_Sarutobi is 36 years old.  
Jiraiya is 16  
Minato, is 7  
Kakashi, Naruto, Gai, Kurenai, Shizune, etc are 0 give or take a year  
Itachi, Deidara, Inuzuka Hana, Ayame, etc are -9 (not born for another 9 years)  
The Rookie 9 (Rookie 8 now I suppose) are -16!  
Rookie 8 graduation is -28!

Warning: This story may… actually it pretty much _will_ alter events from canon; Uzumaki Kushina has already been ripped straight out of existence. You have been warned…

_October 13__th__, Year 26, Hokage's Office_

The Sandaime Hokage sat comfortably in his chair his pipe billowing smoke. He'd scarcely left or slept in three days and only his nicotine was keeping him going. Nara Four, whose name he really needed to remember, stood in front of him with another stack of papers. He'd commandeered the girl from her team to be his new permanent aide and secretary. So far she was doing an admirable job. You could barely tell she'd spent the last 72 hours with only a handful of cat naps at her desk.

"Are these the final figures?" He asked.

"We still have people scouring the battlefield but I'd call them pretty solid." She said.

"Give me the summary."

"We're doing better than everyone else. We already got a messenger from Iwa suing for peace. As far as we can tell Kiri lost almost their entire senior cadre of shinobi. Or at least according to the reports of I've read we can account for most of them. Our only wildcard is Kumo." She said. He nodded as she placed the papers on his desk.

"Have we got Tsunade's report on Naruto?" The woman nodded wearily. In addition to her thousand other tasks as his aide she'd also been tasked with taking care of the newborn, which even now was sleeping in a crib beside her desk.

"Yes," she said, "well his blood tests are completely inconclusive. She can't determine who his parents are. Tsunade does confirm that Uzumaki Mito had a baby before she died. So we can assume Naruto is hers, especially since she claimed it before she died."

"I wonder who the father is." Sarutobi mumbled to himself. His secretary shrugged.

"Well, I checked her file. Her last few children were the 2nd Hokage's…"

"Timing's a little long for that; he died over ten months ago. Possible I suppose, but unlikely." He said. She fidgeted.

"Well, what are we going to do with him? I can't raise him in your office."

"Have any of his relatives agreed to take him in?"

"No. They were quite adamant on the subject."

"We'll have to put him in an orphanage then."

* * *

_October 13__th__, Year 26, Valley of End_

"Did we have to come this far?" Jiraiya asked as Tsunade, Orochimaru, and he stood overlooking the Valley of End.

"You didn't have to come." Tsunade snapped. Her face locked in a fierce scowl. No teasing at all in her voice. No friendly undertones. There was something dark, something angry, and something dangerous. Jiraiya didn't like hearing that tone directed at him. He exchanged a glance with Orochimaru behind their teammates back. She'd been in a bad place since Dan and her kid brother died, but the last few days she'd swung from angry and depressed to murderously enraged and there didn't seem to be an off switch.

"Yeah, we kind of did." Jiraiya said. Orochimaru said nothing. But he was there, which for him said something. Tsunade gave a particularly unfeminine grunt and pulled out a large sealing scroll.

In a puff of smoke the body of Uzumaki Mito appeared and Jiraiya flinched. Jiraiya had only met the woman…well not really met. He'd peeped on her once and she'd beaten him to a smear. But it was always a little rough seeing the bodies of people you knew, and Mito looked like she'd had a pretty rough death.

"You know," Orochimaru spoke suddenly, "legally you're required to bury dead relatives in Konoha. Or at least burn the bodies. Dumping them in a lake is rather out of style." Tsunade leveled a glare at him.

"I'm not burying this woman with my parents and granddad. Not even uncle Tobirama."

"…and burning her is out of the question why?" The pale ninja continued.

"She doesn't deserve it." Jiraiya and Orochimaru exchanged another glance.

"Is this about the baby?" Jiraiya asked.

"What's with you two? Why the hell are you interrogating me?"

"We're trying to talk you out of dumping your grandmother's body in a lake." Jiraiya deadpanned. Tsunade leveled another scowl at the both of them, then let out a sigh.

"Did you know she raised me and Nawaki?" Both men shook their heads. "After our parents died her and uncle Tobirama took us in. Nawaki never got to meet them. She never called us by our names. It wasn't a big thing, but she never did. Nothing anyone ever did was good enough. I think everything she ever said to me pissed me off. But I could have lived with that. I mean she was a bitch but she treated the whole family like that and heaven help anyone who wasn't part of the family. I figured it was tough love or something like that. Then do you know what happened?" She said becoming slightly hysterical "She pops out a bastard and is all 'oh yes this one will be worth something', and 'give him all my things' and 'don't let my deadbeat family raise him'. Like we aren't good enough for her or her bastard." Tsunade glared down at her grandmother's corpse.

"What the hell!" She yelled, raising her foot and stomping down on her grandmother's skull. Most skulls would have exploded into a shower of gore. Most rocks would have shattered into pieces. A steel plate would buckle and warp. Uzumaki Mito's skull wasn't so fragile. When Tsunade's foot hit her grandmother's head, it was pushed into the ground but remained intact. It may have been because the ground was muddy, perhaps Tsunade didn't put to much effort into it, or perhaps Mito's skull was so durable that even in death her skull could endure one of Tsunade's stomps. "Did you give a shit about us at all?"

Jiraiya and Orochimaru shared another look as Tsunade got into a screaming match with her grandmother's corpse. Their hands started flashing through Konoha hand code.

"I don't think we're going to be able to get her to stop." Jiraiya's hands said.

"I agree. We should proceed as rapidly as possible." Orochimaru shot back.

"How?" Jiraiya asked.

"Watch." Orochimaru signed before coughing a bit. "Tsunade," He asked aloud, "I've never been to a... burial… do we need to do anything? Would you like to make a speech?"

"No. We're almost done here." Tsunade said. Wordlessly Tsunade reached down and lifted her grandmother's corpse. Her throw was almost lazy but it sufficed to the task, the body was flung clear toward the center of the lake. With a splash it sank beneath the surface. Jiraiya frowned.

"She sank really fast." He said.

"I put weights on her." Tsunade said with a shrug.

And that's how Uzumaki Mito got "buried". No funeral, no wake, just dumped in a lake.

* * *

_12 years later  
Spring Year 38, Konoha_

Hatake Kakashi sat in the far back of the classroom as Iruka droned on about different types of Kunai. He should be paying attention. The graduation exam was barely a week away. But Iruka had a magic speaking voice that could knock anyone into near unconscious. Glancing around the room he noticed most of the other students had succumbed to it. Anko was sleeping behind a book. Asuma was sharpening a kunai under the desk. Gai was drawing. Kurenai was pretending to diligently pay attention. Naruto was clock watching. Yugao In short, everyone was doing anything other than what they were supposed to.

In a noble effort Kakashi tried to focus on Iruka once more as he went over the incredibly irrelevant differences between the mark 17-A and mark 17-C Kunai design and why the modifications had been made. He lasted about a minute.

In a fair world, he'd have graduated years ago. He probably could have passed the genin final exam when he was five or six. He was damn sure he could have by seven. By nine he may have been the top graduate. At twelve he'd trade his left eye just to get out of the Academy. In war, Konoha often graduated classes early, but in peace the 3rd Hokage frowned on letting children graduate any earlier than he had to. Surprisingly the village council hadn't pressed the issue. The 3rd gave the council far more leeway than his predecessors, and they'd decided that meant they could but into almost every issue.

Deciding to do something vaguely productive he pondered possible team assignments and wondered who he'd get stuck with. His father may have prattled on about the will of fire and the importance of teammates but Kakashi looked at his potential teammates and just couldn't see it. Still he was going to get stuck with two of them.

Assuming everyone passed there were just enough in his class for seven full teams. They weren't the only class in the school of course; Konoha would be graduating more than two hundred genin this year. But teammates were almost always chosen from the same homeroom.

The girls in the class sprang to mind first. While he may have acted stoic and indifferent, he was a boy and girls easily sprang to mind. Even in his own mind Kakashi didn't try to deny that he paid his ten kunoichi classmates far more attention than he spared for his male peers.

Uzuki Yugao was the top ranked girl in class and consistently the second best student overall. A physical powerhouse she excelled at the physical activities and was even solid academically. Her great weaknesses were the subtler arts. Her ninjutsu were poor at best. Even her stealth skills were barely passable.

Kagura was Yugao's top contender for the class's second spot. She was also about as pleasant as a trip to the dentist. Kagura was good at pretty much everything; she just didn't excel at anything. Her only real weakness was her teamwork skills, she never seemed to be in the right spot in formation work, and never seemed to be able to communicate with her teammates well what she was doing or what she wanted them to do. And she pissed people off. She was damn good at that.

Mitarashi Anko was kind of a reverse Yugao. She did poorly in any type of combat and her academic skills were some of the lowest in the class. On the other side, her chakra techniques were near flawless and her stealth skills and trap layouts had even beat him in a few exercises. It was kind of unfair actually, now that Kakashi thought about it, how the Academy grades worked. Basically student's grades were broken into three equal parts, Combat Ability (Taijutsu, Kunai, and Shuriken), Academic Work, and Secondary Skills (Wilderness Survival, Stealth, Disguises, Traps, Ninjitsu Demonstrations, Tactics, Tracking, etc) with most of the Secondary Skills being simple pass or fail. Anko was head and shoulders better than Yugao in Secondary Skills, but do to how the system was graded she was below average in class rankings while Yugao was the second student overall.

Yuhi Kurenai was easily the smartest girl in class. She was also easily the prettiest girl in class. Her grades on the written assignments were regularly even better than his. She was pretty good at most of the secondary skills. She was terrible in the combat arts.

Shizune was like a watered down Kurenai. She was almost as smart. Her grades were almost as good. She was the absolute worst in the class at combat. Her shuriken and kunai missed the targets about as often as they hit and were almost never centered or grouped. Like Anko she excelled in the Secondary Skills but it wasn't enough to save her from a middling class rank. Her worse flaw, at least to a teenage boy, was how utterly plain she looked. Kakashi didn't think of himself as shallow but well Shizune was kind of like the class wallpaper. She wasn't ugly, if you stuck her next to a peasant girl or shopkeeper's daughter she would even look pretty. But in a room full of kunoichi she was just… Shizune.

Rin was, well, middle of the road came to mind. He couldn't recall a time where she did really good at anything or where she flopped. She was just…mediocre, he guessed.

Kaori was one of Rin's friends and a frequent member of the bottom half of the class. She'd expressed an interest in medical ninjistu once and Kakashi wished her luck, Konoha needed any medic it could get. Kakashi's dad told him that during the second war they'd tried to add an expanded medic program but it never took off. As far as Kakashi knew Konoha only had a handful of Ninja who knew any medical techniques and with Tsunade in Anbu they weren't likely to get many more any time soon.

Ibara, Suzume, and Tsubaki were… well they were there. Unlike Rin he'd seen them drop the ball plenty of times, but never recalled them doing anything impressive.

The closest person Kakashi had to a friend was easily Maito Gai. They trained together occasionally and sometimes even got meals together or talked about things non-challenge related. Gai dominated all the combat skills, debatably he was better than Kakashi himself, and excelled at any physical activity. But his grades were abysmal and most of his secondary skills were poor or worse.

Sarutobi Asuma was a spoiled brat on his good days and a mean little prick with a chip on his shoulders on bad days. Most of the time Asuma seemed happy to coast on his rep of being the Hokage's son instead of really trying to do well. Still even if he spent all of his time half-assing it and chasing girls, usually Kurenai but he didn't seem to mind trying others if she wasn't around, he stayed comfortably in the top half of the class on every subject and even threatened to break into the big 5 of the combat classes, a group that hadn't changed since the first year (Kakashi, Gai, Yugao, Kagura, Naruto). Ninja rarely physically bullied their peers, after all every academy student was trained to fight back, but used social ostracization to set the social order. Asuma over the last few years had divided the class (and much of the rest of the year) into two loose social groups. People that got invited to Asuma's parties, events, etc, and everybody else. Being one of the people in the 'everybody else' category Kakashi had very little good to say about Asuma.

Uzumaki Naruto did well in all the physical exercises. He was bad with thrown weapons, and his taijutsu form was subpar, but he was a freaking machine. Naruto didn't get tired, ever. You couldn't get a good hit to put him down, you had to beat him to a pulp. His bookwork was bad enough to put him below even Gai and Anko. Where he really shined though was in the secondary skills. Tracking, stealth, and traps. He practically lived in the forest and it showed. Still there was something about Naruto the adults didn't like, and you had to be an idiot to notice that you practically never saw Naruto in the main part of the village. Kakashi didn't know, and frankly didn't care, what exactly the issue was. But whatever social stigma clung to Naruto, Kakashi knew enough to know it could easily spread to his teammates and he wanted no part of it. Better a slightly less able teammate. Skill was much easier to fix than the crushing dislike of the entre village.

Gekko Hayate could have been a great ninja. If only he wasn't so sick. In a way he was Naruto's opposite, Book smart, popular, and just as capable in combat. While Naruto fought battles of attrition using his in-exhaustible reserves and stubborn resistance to damage, Hayate relied on pure skill, trying to end every fight in the first exchange. His disease was his only real flaw; it hindered disguises, stealth, and made any prolonged activity extremely difficult. If he was healthy Hayate could have possibly been one of the top students, even with it he was comfortably in the middle of the class overall.

Genma, Raido, and Aoba were Asuma's buddies, and they all hovered around the middle and back half of the class. They seemed content to ride Asuma's coattails rather than trying to pull ahead.

Ebisu was actually pretty good all around, shame he was such a know it all.

Toriichi Kumade… actually Kakashi didn't think he'd ever spoken to the boy in their entire time at the academy. There really hadn't been the need to; Kumade had been hanging on the bottom rung of the class for years. Kakashi did like his mask though, that had to count for something.

Last and definitely least was Uchiha Obito. If Kumade was consistently at the bottom of the class Obito was keeping a death grip on the dead last position. Everything the goggle wearing boy seemed to touch turned to failure. Worse he lashed out at his peers for being better than him. Kakashi, Asuma, Gai, Ebisu, even Hayate and Naruto had been on the receiving ends of the boys tantrums and the endless promises that once he got his eyes he'd show them his true potential.

…No Kakashi just couldn't see why his father kept stressing the value of teammates… or if he had a choice how he'd build a workable team from his peers.

_Spring Year 38, Konoha_

Uchiha Mikoto drug herself through the streets of Konoha like she was marching to her execution. Not that patrolling Konoha involved what most ninja considered much work but as a member of Konoha's Police Force, Mikoto felt that anything approaching actual work was an unpleasant task. Most officers she knew felt the same way.

Worse luck, today her patrol route took her through the merchant's district. There was always something that an officer needed to do in the damnable civilian dominated merchant district. "Officer! Officer! I need you!" Mikoto barely refrained from cursing and plastering a very fake smile on her face turned to face her first burden of the afternoon.

"Yes? Did you need something?" She asked putting some, very fake, enthusiasm in her voice.

"Thank heavens you showed up when you did officer!" The middle aged civilian woman exclaimed. "It's," she said looking around to make sure no one else was in earshot, "the demon brat." Mikoto let out a groan.

"What did Naruto do now?"

"Well he went into Ucchan's grocery store and decent folk can't get in while he's in there. So if you could chase him off or give him a beating so the rest of us can get on with our shopping?" Mikoto frowned. Naruto was, by the woman's admission, doing nothing wrong. But the police force had learned that if you left Naruto doing nothing wrong in an area filled with 'decent folk' any nearby officer, and eventually the headquarters would get besieged by 'decent people' who wanted him gone. They'd eventually settled on the, very not legal, practice of chasing him off whenever he showed up.

There was a crowd outside the grocer when she arrived. They all but cheered her on when she went into the store to collect the boy, Naruto prosecution was practically a sport in Konoha. They probably even assumed the scowl on her face was for the boy. It only took her a few moments to find him. The shopkeepers desperate pointing helped. Once upon a time they'd have banned the boy from the store or grossly overcharged him. While the Hokage tolerated the Police Forces removing Naruto from the public parts of town, he'd drawn his line in the sand and let all the village shopkeepers know that if they were caught cheating or banning the boy very bad, bad, things would happen. It was an unhappy compromise between the villagers who wanted him gone entirely and the Hokage who wanted him to have a normal life. But life was often messy.

"Hello Naruto." The boy looked up from where he was loading his handcart. It only took him a second to recognize her. At the tender age of twelve Naruto knew every cop in town.

"Officer-neesan, I'm almost done." The boy said with a pleading look.

"Now." She said, hefting her cudgel. He raced of to the cashier and she stomped after him. The store worker did the transaction at near lightspeed. In no time at all she was leading the boy out of the district.

"What have I told you? Hell what has every officer ever told you? You shop-"

"In the mornings and evenings, I know." The boy said. She scowled again.

"You clearly don't if I'm dragging you out of town this early in the afternoon."

"I do! It's just I needed to pick up some stuff for my all night training session for exams! I'm gonna show everybody tomorrow just how awesome I am!" Mikoto was skeptical. Hell she was a damn pessimist by nature. Still she doubted there were many kids in the world that needed some positive attention as bad as Naruto.

"I'm sure you will." She said. He eyeballed checking to see if she was being sincere or sarcastic. He started saying something, but was interrupted.

"He's dead! He's dead!" a boy of seven or eight shouted running through the streets.

"Halt! Who's dead?" She asked. The kid looked up.

"The Kazekage!" That got her complete attention. "Where did you hear that?"

"I was at the Kokage's tower when the news came in. The Kazekage's gone missing and they said he's dead." Mikoto frowned, that was not good news.

"Run along kid. Naruto, you go straight home, you hear me?" Naruto nodded and went off in the direction of his house. The kid went right on running down the street. Mikoto started roof hopping like mad back to the station. Like most Uchiha girls she was something of a connoisseur of rumors, and something in her gut told her this one was true.

She felt justified when she turned up at the police station and a handful of other officers were talking about it.

"So he is dead then?" She asked. Inuzuka Tsume, an officer about her own age gave a nod. "Aye," the woman spat, "and good riddance."

"Bad riddance more like," Uchiha Uruchi said, a veteran kunoichi who was putting on some pounds as she slid toward her middle years. "With him gone Iwa will declare war on Mountain Country, mark my words." Mikoto and Tsume both nodded at that. Before the 2nd Great Shinobi War Mountain Country had been part of Earth Country and they'd wanted it back before the treaty that split it off had finished drying.

"If he does we'll fight him," Tsume said. "Onoki can hardly fight us, Suna, Rain, Iron, Grass, and whoever else wants to pile in."

"Can we afford to fight them?" Mikoto asked "things with Kiri aren't looking good." Tsume looked annoyed. Uruchi looked worried. Kiri and Konoha weren't fighting a war, but they were having a border dispute. It wasn't official, but a lot of very unofficial fights between Kiri-nin and Konoha-nin on missions were happening in Wave and Noodle country and some of the last few teams assigned out that way had a lot more firepower than the missions required.

"Let's hope not," Uruchi said. Tsume scowled but Mikoto kept her face blank. It was easy for Tsume to have a go get'em attitude. She was just young enough to have missed the last war entirely. At just a year older Mikoto herself had only been an academy student when the last war ended. Uruchi had fought in the 2nd war from start to finish, if someone had a right to not want to fight another war it was her. They didn't stop discussing the possibilities of course, and more and more officers pitched their thoughts in. But more and more it seemed to come down to 'what will the Hokage do?'

* * *

Just in case you're lazy-

In _Year 38  
_Sarutobi is 48 years old.  
Jiraiya is 28  
Minato and Mikoto are 19  
Kakashi, Naruto, Gai, Kurenai, Shizune, etc are 12 give or take a year  
Itachi, Deidara, Inuzuka Hana, Ayame, etc are 3  
The Rookie 8 are -4!  
Rookie 8 graduation is -16!

**-Team building help-**

I have some ideas on who to put on Naruto's team, But I could use some help. Please if you have any team ideas that you think are good or interesting pop them in a review. All 21 members are listed above (and all of them can be found in Narutopedia) The only difference so far is Anko ad Yugao are 12 now instead of the 6 they should be. Simple, just pick three and build a team (and then tell me why you picked those three).

If you have any questions or comments please leave a review.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The world stage

_Spring 38, Mountain Country Border_

Mountain Country was a large country but like Suna and Iwa most of its countryside was simply uninhabitable. It had a small population, most of which were miners or lived along the land routes between Iron Country, Earth Country, and Wind Country. To the Tsuchikage it was a point of pride to reclaim it. He wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Roshi a veteran of the 2nd great shinobi war was thrilled to receive the order to liberate the country. Not that he could say that to the Tsuchikage. Men of Earth Country were a reserved lot; almost as reserved as their women folk. So when he received the order to take a few regiments and some Anbu over to bring Mountain Country back to the fold, his simple "Aye Sir," was all that needed to be said.

His men were equally excited. While a man from more…expressive countries might have been unable to tell, it was plain to Roshi as the light of day. Their armor and weapons were perfectly polished, their uniforms immaculate, they marched in perfect unison, the silence in the ranks showed their perfect discipline and enthusiasm for the task. Even his apprentice, Iwa's second Jinchuriki Han, was practically bouncing with each step.

No army met them at the border. No ambushes. No traps. When they arrived at the first border town they weren't met with barred gates, no snipers took potshots from windows, and the peasants didn't even carry pitchforks. The townsfolk did line the streets. Children were hefted on to the shoulders of their parents. Men raced out to clasp the hands of his soldiers, the women gave very brazen kisses to the cheek (while that may be chaste in most of the elemental countries, in the country of Earth, it was practically a 'come and get it' gesture.) The cheering was wild; men and even some of the women shouting the rhythmic "Huzzah!" Roshi himself met the town's mayor with a firm handshake.

"The Commander I presume?"

"I am. My orders are to annex the country." Roshi stated bluntly. The Mayor nodded.

"Splendid. Would you care for some tea?" Had a similar scene occurred in Fire or Lightning Country there would have been crying, speeches, people would have danced in the street or fallen to their knees. But for the people of Earth Country and the people so cheerfully returned to it, these simple gestures and greetings were just as emotional.

* * *

_Spring 38, Wave Country _

Kiri and Konoha were not having a war. There'd been no declarations, no serious territorial violations, no major violations of existing treaties, and remarkably few casualties. But they were having a misunderstanding. Wave country, a small cluster of sparsely populated and very unimportant islands that marked the traditional border between Fire Country and Water Country. The Hokage, reasonably, believed that the islands should fall under Konoha's purview. After all, since Kiri's near collapse after the 2nd Great Shinobi War it had been Konoha ninja that protected the islands. The Mizukage, politely, insisted that the Islands of Wave were Kiri's sacred responsibility to protect. Of course Kiri thanked Konoha for its efforts, but now that Kiri was fully recovered from the 2nd Great Shinobi War it is a matter of pride and honor to return to its traditional territories and protectorates, the Mizukage claimed. Since the Kage couldn't agree on the issue they both found plenty of, reasonable and polite, excuses to have hundreds of shinobi and thousands of Fire and Water Country Soldiers descend on the islands.

Namikaze Minato, for instance, had been handpicked by the Hokage to undertake a C-rank mission to "observe and protect" one of Wave Country's tiny port towns. The client was anonymous. The mission duration was infinite. His handpicked team was two special jonin, Hyuga Hizashi and Aburame Shibi. Nor was his team the only such overqualified team in Wave. It was beyond overkill. Unless one of the two Kage decided there was going to be a war.

Being an optimist, Minato shied away from that last thought. He'd been seven during the Battle of Shadows and had ditched his group in the shelters to take part in the last phases. If he never saw another war again it would suit him fine. So he consoled himself with the knowledge that Kiri and Konoha _were not_ at war.

"So, you guys think anything is going to happen today?" He asked as his team strolled through the town. Normally a sleepy little country, Wave was having something of an economic boom with so many soldiers and ninja pouring money into the shops, bars, restaurants, and native girls.

"Perhaps." Hizashi said with a small smile. Shibi just gave an almost invisible shrug. Minato sighed.

"You guys are a riot." He said. "Lets hit a bar or something, I'm bored."

"You're wondering if the Kiri soldiers and Ninja are going to try to kill us all today and your plan is to go to a bar?" Shibi said. Hizashi snickered. Minato was clever enough not to engage Shibi in any kind of battle of logic or common sense. But that didn't mean he couldn't trump the insect user.

"Yes." Shibi just looked at him. Minato kept his face blank. Hizashi laughed.

"Well to the bar I guess." The Hyuuga said with a grin. He was an oddly jovial sort for Hyuga. Sadly Shibi was proving to be reserved and dispassionate even by Aburame standards. Still he didn't stop Minato and Hizashi from dragging him into the first bar they stumbled past.

They weren't the only who had that idea it seemed. The place was packed. Fire Country soldiers with their black armor and mud red uniforms saw his headband and raised glasses or nodded his team's way. Kiri soldiers, in mottled blues, sent scowls and muttered into their drinks. A Kiri ninja at the bar gave his team only the briefest of glances before returning to her drink. Minato gave her a more thorough onceover, she was worth it. Even sitting on a barstool he could tell she was tall, possibly over six feet. Dark hair that framed her face and went to just above her shoulders. Golden eyes. A very tight top that left her midriff exposed. A sword that had to be nearly as tall she was. Her pants were cut just low enough that he could just barely make out her thong. It took longer than he would honestly like to admit for his brain to force him back to the sword.

One of Kiri's seven swords he was certain. He'd be damned if he could recall which one. He tried to place her with any of the entries in the Bingo book but failed miserably. Kiri had been quite for the last decade, and played mostly close to home. They'd lost almost their entire roster of senior shinobi at the Battle of 4 Shadows and most of their current roster was unknown. Even the Sandaime Mizukage's real name wasn't widely known. Or at least Minato hadn't heard anyone ever use it.

A scrawny kid on the bench next to her, her apprentice maybe, with the lower half of his face covered by bandages noticed the attention Minato was bestowing on the woman and glared his way. Minato raised his hands in mock surrender and returned to eyeballing the rest of the room. Three Konoha Anbu sat in the far corner of the room, masks firmly in place. Squid, an older fellow whose hair was starting to grey, gave a friendly wave that Minato happily returned. Eel ignored him entirely. Wearing a heavy Anbu trenchcoat with a hood pulled over his or her head, Minato couldn't even place Eel's gender. Toad was definitely female. And clearly voluptuous enough that even her heavy Anbu coat couldn't hide those measurements. Shame her hood was pulled up, Minato would have bet good money even her hair was luxurious too. He sent a beaming smile her way that she ignored completely.

The other team in the bar gave Minato's a much friendlier reception as his team joined their table. It was kind of funny actually. In Konoha Minato and the Ino-Shika-Cho group would have simply walked past each other in the streets. Maybe on a good day exchanged nods. But when Konoha shinobi met in the field it was like they were best friends. Except Anbu, because Anbu are mostly assholes.

It was a rush of greetings, hellos, how-ya-beens, how's your mom and them, etc that passed between Minato's team and the famous trio. Things were proceeding pleasantly until the Yamanaka drug them back to unpleasant reality.

"Can you believe how many soldiers Mizu's putting on to the islands?" The Interrogation specialist asked. Minato just shrugged. It wasn't Mizu's soldiers he was worried about if things turned sour. He shot another glance at the swordswoman in the corner.

"Less than us." Shibi said. Having no idea of if the bug user was right or not, but easily believing he knew the answer, Minato nodded.

"True," Shikaku said, "but the Mizukage certainly isn't sparing any expense." Shikaku and Shibi began trading verbal volley's back and forth that Minato quickly tuned out as he enjoyed his drink. There wouldn't be a war. The Kage would reach some kind of agreement and then everybody would pull out of the town and things would go back to normal. Or as normal as things in a ninja village ever got at least. Nothing to worry about.

* * *

_Spring 38, Konoha_

Her real name wasn't Nara Four. Umino Iruka knew that. But after a decade as the Hokage's adjutant (aide/secretary/coffee and pipe fetcher/fluffer/office cleaner/messenger/paperwork carrier/laundry woman/babysitter/answering machine- just some but not all of her many duties) her actual name had fallen out of usage and the nickname Four had stuck. Iruka had even heard a rumor that the woman's husband, on the rare occasions she actually got to leave the office, called her Four sometimes.

"What do you mean I can't see him?" Iruka said. Unfortunately one of her many jobs was screening who got to see the Hokage and who didn't.

"I think you answered your own question Iruka." She said not bothering to look up. Iruka scowled. He was only sixteen and was one of the newest instructors at the academy. Nara Four may have been a fifth rate ninja, even Iruka who considered himself average was certain he could have beaten her in any sort of fight. But her subpar ninja skills weren't what made her dangerous. She was the Hokage's adjutant, the second most powerful bureaucrat in Konoha. She had massive influence of personnel, resource allocation, mission assignments, she all but controlled what the Hokage saw and what he didn't. Even outside of all the ways she could give him grief on her own, there were dozens of very mean, powerful, very high ranking ninja who'd have traded one of their arms to have the glorified secretary owe them a favor. They'd be absolutely delighted to just have to trade one of Iruka's. Getting on her bad side could being him loads of trouble and, not for the first time he seriously considered just leaving, then he thought about why he was here.

"I have to see him." The teacher said. "We've got an order to cancel the final academy exam and pass every seventh year student. Some of these kids aren't ready yet."

"That doesn't really matter." She said, still not looking up. "We may need all of them pretty soon." Iruka opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off by looking up. "You're not going to see him today. He's been arguing with the Mizukage's ambassador off and on for the last three days, and when he isn't talking to her he's meeting with advisors, the Fire Daimyo's representative, and ambassadors from Iwa, Iron, Suna, and Ame. He has much, much, more important things going on than your Genin class. None of the other teacher's have even complained. I've already received their team recommendations."

"I'm not submitting team assignments until I see him." Iruka said flatly his arms crossed. Nara Four frowned.

"You most certainly are, because if those kids don't get put on teams they don't get jonin sensei, and if they don't get jonin sensei they don't get assigned missions, or the way things are shaping up a military posting, and when the Hokage wonders why he's missing twenty one genin he's going to scream at me and then I will make your life very miserable." She glared at him and he flinched. But this was more important than him.

"I won't do it." Iruka said, and her glare changed to shock, "schedule me an appointment with Lord Hokage and I'll submit the team placements when I meet with him." His piece said Umino Iruka turned and left. And if the fifth rate ninja turned desk jockey wanted to make trouble for him later, well that was her business. But he'd be able to meet it with a clean conscience and that's what mattered to him.

Unfortunately because he'd left he didn't see the scowl on Nara Four's face. He didn't see her open her desk and pull out form1763-C7, otherwise known as the Genin Team Assignment form. He didn't see her rotate her chair and pull out the most recent copy of the Konoha Ninja Academy Student Placement Exams (conveniently organized by class, alphabetically, and by subject for your convenience!).

Her team building method was simple, (that Iruka didn't see but would receive a copy of on his desk tomorrow, with the Hokage stamp of approval) she looked at the student placement ranks in Iruka's class.

_Umino Iruka's Class Rankings:_

1) Hatake Kakashi  
2) Uzuki Yugao  
3) Kagura  
4) Sarutobi Asuma  
5) Ebisu  
6) Yamashiro Aoba  
7) Yuhi Kurenai  
8) Uzumaki Naruto  
9) Rin  
10) Shiranui Genma  
11) Gekko Hayate  
12) Shizune  
13) Maito Gai  
14) Ibara  
15) Anko  
16) Kaori  
17) Namiashi Raido  
18) Toriichi Kumade  
19) Suzume  
20) Tsubaki  
21) Obito

Then she split the first seven on to different teams, forming the Core of teams 1 through 7. Then reversing the original order she put the remainder of the students on their new teams.

_Team List_

1: Kakashi, 14: Ibara, 21: Obito  
2: Yugao, 13: Gai, 20: Tsubaki  
3: Kagura, 12: Shizune, 19: Suzume  
4: Asuma, 11: Hayate, 18: Kumade  
5: Ebisu, 10: Genma, 17: Raido  
6: Aoba, 9: Rin, 16: Kaori  
7: Kurenai, 8: Naruto, 15: Anko

In the spot for teacher signature she simply put "Teacher did not file- Approval Hokage Adjutant". Then placed the finished document in the Hokage's to do pile. While Iruka's show of defiance didn't do his students any good, he did make an enemy, so the day wasn't a total waste.

* * *

Mostly a background filling chapter, to set up the team assignments and give us a look at the wider world outside Konoha. Originally I had another scene with Naruto attached to this chapter, but the scene With Nara 4 and Iruka just seems like amuch better ending point.

Next chapter I promise we'll get to Naruto.

Character's outside of Time:

There are a handful of characters that are completely the wrong age- (aside naruto of course) Anko and Yugao are both about 5 years older than they would have been "in cannon" This was done to increase the number of students to make seven full teams out of the characters that we know were this age.

A handful of Iwa characters have been aged in my notes, because we have so few Iwa characters and I'm desperately trying to avoid OCs.

Iruka is our big stand out, according to canon he'd be about 3 alongside Uchiha Itachi and Inuzuka Hana. I aged him because 1- I needed a teacher for the class. 2- More than any other character his existence is defined by Naruto. In fanfiction Iruka serves almost solely to A) acknowledge young Naruto, B) to not acknowledge him and actively hate him C) to be largely ignored filler character if he gets a mention at all. His age doesn't really matter, only his relationship with Naruto.

Any questions or comments- leave a review and I'll try to get back to you.


End file.
